Apartheid and
colonialism were and continue to be the biggest heists and cases of corruption to
ever happen in South Africa. There cannot be a debate and a discussion around
whether or not apartheid was predicated on the mass exploitation of the
resources of our country.

Quite honestly,
apartheid was the theft and looting of the wealth and land of black
people. It is only people like Helen Zille, who are still reminiscent of
apartheid, who can even begin to make assertions that suggest that there was
any good that came out of the cruel system of apartheid. Such people must not
even be entertained lest we forget Toni Morrison’s caution that racism works with
distractions.

We are at a point
where we should be finding ways to solve the consequences and effects of
apartheid, some of which still find expression in the present. In
this article I want to argue that corruption is increasingly used to obscure and
silence discourses around land and racism that still exist in the
country.

Racists in South
Africa have been successful in distracting us from focusing and finding
solutions to the heinous crimes of apartheid. One trope they have been using is
that of corruption. It was not long ago that AfriForum, a right-wing
civil organisation, was marching for Jacob Zuma to be removed as president and arrested
when they have never said anything about former president FW De Klerk and
all the white people who were involved in oiling and sustaining the machine of
apartheid.

Corruption is
undoubtedly a problem in any society, even more so in a developing society like
ours. It stunts the social and economic growth of the country and
subjects the people to extreme poverty. Corruption must be dealt with
regardless of the colour in which it manifests. Whether a black
person is behind corruption or whether it is a white person, corruption
has an unavoidable consequence which is the stunting of
development. This must nonetheless not be used to obscures the reality
that white people still continue to own our resources with impunity.

It has become
difficult in South Africa to speak about corruption without the mention of
Jacob Zuma and leaders of the African National Congress (ANC). Corruption
in this country has been made synonymous with the ANC. In less than a year,
two leaders of the ANC were forced to discharge their duties because they were
allegedly corrupt. This might very well be true, and the law must play its
part and bring the guilty to book. But in dealing with corruption it must
be borne in mind that black people are not the only ones who are capable of
this crime.

White people are
also corrupt. In fact, their continued presence in South Africa is possible through
centuries of corruption. What is interesting though is that white
corruption is rarely called corruption but is often euphemised
and given names such as "collusion", "price-fixing",
etc.

When white people are
found guilty of running cartels they not arrested but often have to pay fines
and penalties.

The removal
of political leaders from their positions because of
corruption charges is not specific to South Africa. It has also happened
in quite a number of African countries. Libya is the most immediate
example where Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was removed and murdered because he was
accused of being corrupt.

Often it is when
black leaders start speaking about the return of land and taking the wealth
from the hands of the colonisers that charges of corruption surface. This then
invites us to think critically about where these charges come from and
what invokes them.

The discourse of
corruption clouds certain important realities about the condition that
black people are still in as a result of colonisation and apartheid. It
obscures the reality that blacks are still subjected to living in cramped
spaces like townships because white people still own most of the land in
South Africa.

People are shot
in Marikana because there is a group of white people that continues
to make super profits even if it means that blacks are exploited all the way to
the grave.

The corruption
discourse has the potential to obscure the important reality that in South
Africa wealth remains a preserve of white people. It is important, therefore,
that if we are to speak honestly about our abhorrence of corruption we
should also pursue all the old white men who were involved in oiling
the machinery of apartheid and its sustenance.

This is not to say
that corrupt black leaders must be impugned but we should not continue as if
corruption is an inherently black disease. The vigour used to
persecute black people who are corrupt must be applied equally to the
persecution of white corruption.

- Dlamini is a former Wits SRC President and student activist. He writes in his personal capacity.

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.

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